Mother-Father Concordance on Treatment Choices in the Care of Sick Children under Five Years of Age in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Communication and agreement between spouses has been found to be an important factor in terms of acceptance and use of family planning services and supplies. Therefore, it is likely that agreement between spouses may play an important role in other aspects of family health, including care of childhood illness. This study, based in a rural and an urban community in Osun State, Nigeria, set out to determine the agreement between mothers and fathers on the illness experience and care provided to their preschool age children. Among the 550 couples studied, most mothers (98%) and fathers (94%) reported that they "did something" to help during their child's recent illness. The illness was recognized first by the mothers according to 83% of respondents. Overall, 81% of couples concurred that the mother was the first to discover the illness. Concurrence was greater in urban areas and where fathers read a newspaper frequently. Only 45% concurred on who took the decision for first action to address the illness, which again was greater in the urban area and in families where the father read a newspaper frequently. Parents also were not in full agreement about the name of the child's illness, but concurrence was greater in the case of malaria/fever. Finally, concurrence on the actual first form of treatment care reached only 36%. Most concurrent couples and non-concurrent mothers mentioned drug shops/chemists as the first source of care, while non-concurrent fathers placed government clinics first. While mothers are likely to be the main caregivers, fathers do have decision making and financial roles. Not only should health education for appropriate and prompt care of child illnesses be aimed equally are both parents, it should also recognize that fathers may have different perceptions from mothers. Education should also encourage better couple communication.

Understanding factors influencing care seeking for sick children in Ebonyi and Kogi states, Nigeria

“…Similar to other studies, we found that mothers are most frequently the first ones to identify illness symptoms (23), but that a mother often does not have the agency or resources to seek care herself and must consult her husband or in-laws prior to seeking care outside the home (16) and decisions about where and when to seek care for a child are often taken by fathers, since men are considered to be responsible for family resources and pay for care (8,19,30). We identified some variation across LGAs with regard to making use of community based treatment options.…”

“…Additionally, our review of numerous studies of care seeking in Nigeria found that the majority focused on fever and malaria (12,21,22) and did not examine care seeking across the other, common child illnesses such as pneumonia and diarrhea. The majority of the existing studies were quantitative (16,18,23) and did not provide adequate depth into the multiple factors that influence sick-child care seeking, including complex gender and social norms.…”

Advocacy for free maternal and child health care in Nigeria—Results and outcomes

“…Recent DHS data [2] indicate that only 64% of pregnant Nigerian women receive antenatal care; 39% are delivered by a skilled birth attendant; while only 35% of women give birth in a health facility. Similarly, Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of childhood immunization [2], while most families rely on unproven traditional methods for treatment of major childhood illnesses [8].…”

Causes, Spectrum and Effects of Surgical Child Abuse and Neglect in a Nigerian City

“…The social workers' department efforts at organizing counselling sessions and home visits for every case of registered child abuse were rewarded when many fathers who abandoned their wives with the babies were reunited and many abandoned children rehabilitated. These parents/caregivers became cooperative and participated in nursing the children 25 , although mortality was high due to irreversible complications of the neglected primary surgical pathology.…”